Breakfast with Madeleine Albright

Advice for the future President of the United States, whoever she or he were to be [in 2008], for the President whom Romanians elected in 2009, but also for the future "Foreign Affairs Minister" of the European Union, after ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. All this was offered on the morning of May 23, 2008 by former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, during a Breakfast Conversation with Aspen Romania Members and guests.
Present in Bucharest to promote a vaccination program to prevent cervical cancer, Madeleine Albright was generous with her views on the mission of the future American president in a Conversation with business representatives, political personalities and civil society figures. Among these, representatives of more senior generations such as Aspen Romania President Senator Mircea Geoana, and MEP and former Foreign Minister Adrian Severin, but also Alumni and present participants of Aspen Romania's Young Leaders Program.
Mircea Geoana introduced Secretary Albright with the observation that her East European roots - she was the daughter of Czech immigrants to the United States - explained not only her frequent visits to the region and to Romania, but also her unique ability to understand the problems of this part of Europe and their interconnection with global developments of interest to Washington.
The main focus of discussion was Secretary Albright's most recent book, "Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership". As she herself declared, the book offers recommendations to the future American President based on her experience as Secretary of State in the Clinton administration, but also aims to encourage public debate in America on essential topics such as the fight against terrorism, the future of the nuclear powers, of democracy, the effects of globalization and the energy question.

Madeleine Albright is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Aspen Institute in the US and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group. She was a strong supporter of the establishment of an Aspen Institute in Romania.